Biographical Data :

Name :

Shaikh Muhammad Rashid

Period :

1915 - 2002

Biographical detail :

Politician

Rashid symbolised the socialist conscience in Pakistanís political landscape. He grew disillusioned with the landlord-dominated politics, after the establishment of a new country, Pakistan, in 1947 and whose political ethos clashed with his radical and pro-peasant views.

Rashidís finest hour came when he joined the Pakistan Peopleís party, founded by the then rising star, Zulifikar Ali Bhutto, in 1967 and became a symbol of workers and peasant interests. Unfortunately, organised landed interest prevented Rashidís proposals for land reform, which if implanted, would have made Pakistan a very different place. When General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew the Bhutto government, in 1977,, Rashid spent next decade in exile in Britain.

Rashid went back to Pakistan after the death of Zia to find the country vastly changed and his own poor health due to long-running asthma and advancing age contributed to his political demise. He spent his time writing a number of books on political economy and politics.